


In an Instant

by AlinasTeaParty



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ace Sirius Black, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, Raising Harry, Trans Pregnancy, Trans Remus Lupin, wolfstar, wolfstar raising hari
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-10-10 02:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10426917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlinasTeaParty/pseuds/AlinasTeaParty
Summary: Peter is caught in the act, Sirius gets custody of Hari. "You want to give my godson to WHO? With all due respect, Dumbledore, suck my dick" He and Remus Make a go of it and raise Hari together.





	1. Everything Changes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [remiusblupin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/remiusblupin/gifts).



“Unca Moooooooony,” The toddler’s voice was trailing down the hall towards the bathroom where Remus was crouched in front of the loo. “Unca Mooooooon- Unca Moony? You okie dokie?” In his rush to reach the toilet, he had obviously failed to push the door all the way shut.

“Unca Moony is okay, Hari,” Remus replied weakly, glancing at the messy haired toddler and trying to offer a smile.

“I can help?” Hari asked, shuffling closer and pulling his stuffed hippogriff by one of its hind legs. Remus closed the toilet and flushed, reaching out an arm.

“Come here buddy,” Hari brightened and was quick to fall into Remus’s embrace, pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek. “Now, what was it that you wanted?” Hari furrowed his brow, trying to remember.

“Uhhhhhmmmm… I dunno,” Remus laughed and stood up unsteadily, Hari still wrapped in his arms. He heard the front door close and the sound of grocery bags being placed on the kitchen floor. He had given Sirius a very explicit list and hopefully he hadn’t deviated too far from it. _Of course he has. It’s Sirius._

“Unca Paddy!” Hari cries, trying to wriggle out of Remus’s arms until he is put down. He scurries away and Remus quickly washes his mouth out before following the toddler to the kitchen.

“Hey there!” Sirius scoops Hari up, spins him around then brings him in for a cuddle.

“Unca Moony sick,”

“Is that so?” Sirius says to Hari before turning a concerned expression to Remus, who attempted another smile. “What’s wrong, love?” Remus shakes his head.

“I’ll be alright, I think the moon is just hitting me earlier than usual,” Sirius looked at the calendar on the kitchen wall.

“The moon isn’t for almost two weeks, are you sure?” Remus nods.

“I think so, ye-” his eyes widen just before he bolts back down the hallway to the little bathroom.

When Sirius finds him, he’s once again kneeling in front of the loo.

“Merlin, Remus, how long have you been like this?” Sirius conjures a glass and fills it at the tap before kneeling beside his boyfriend.

“A few hours, maybe more,” he shook his head to the water before wretching again. “You don’t have to stay, I’ll be alright,” Sirius frowns at him and pats him on the pack of the head gently.

“Don’t be silly, moons,” When Remus was done with the loo again, he closed the lid and sat on the edge of the ancient bathtub and took the water from Sirius.

“Where’s Hari?” Remus asked when he could no longer taste the bile.

“He’s playing in the living room, he’s fine,” Sirius looked at Remus apprehensively, “Could it be the flu? What other symptoms have you got?” Remus closed his eyes, thinking.

“My temperature has been up, nausea, dizzy, my back hurts… Could be a flu,” this time when he bent double over the loo, there was nothing left to come up.

“Okay, that’s enough, we’re taking you to a healer,” Remus shook his head.

“Don’t be silly, we’re going and that’s final,”

Half an hour later, Sirius had managed to coax Remus into the fireplace, holding Harry tightly and they arrived at St Mungo's. The witch at the front desk was, for some reason, confused about the list of symptoms, but directed us right to the second floor, Second Floor - Magical Bugs and Diseases. Hari was asleep on Sirius’s chest by the time a healer got around to where they had been told to wait for a healer. The witch that called Remus’s name looked like Madame Pomfrey… If Madame Pomfrey had taken up professional wrestling. When Sirius made to move alongside Remus, the witch held up a hand.

“Just Mr Lupin for now, if you please,” Remus squeezed Sirius’s hand reassuringly before standing unsteadily and following the Healer into an examination room. When the door was closed behind them, she began scribbling on the clipboard in her hands and, without looking up at him, said “Now if you could just take off your shirt, Mr Lupin, we can start trying to work out what the matter is,” she offered him the kind of smile nurses give you when they don’t want you to throw up, but also want to hurry you along.

“Is… I mean… Is it absolutely necessary?” Her smile tightened ever so slightly, but it was enough to tell him that it was. “Of course… Sorry,”

“I also need to be aware of any pre-existing conditi-” her voice trailed off as she caught sight of the more severe scars on his shoulders and the distinctive marks of breast transfiguration on his chest. “Oh my dear, what happened to you,”

“I was bitten by Fenrir Greyback when I was four, and I have been treated for that and being transgender since I was twelve,” the words came out in a rush and he kept his eyes trained on the floor.

“Well then, that explains things,” she took a deep breath and pulled the stool to sit in front of him. “Well, first we are going to check your temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure, and we’ll take it from there, shall we?” there was something more gentle in her tone when she spoke to him now. He was used to pity, but he had never grown to like it. There was something else in it, though, and when she touched him it was as gentle as if he were a child.

After a few moments, she took more notes on her clipboard and sat back down in front of him.

“Now, Remus, I have to ask you a few questions of a personal nature, is that okay?” He was not used to this kind of treatment, not after people found out about him.

“Y-Yes,” his voice catches in his throat and he clears it.

“How far have you transitioned?”

“Breast transfiguration and I take hormone potions once a week,”

“And,” she clears her throat, “Below the belt?” he makes to answer but instead lunges for the waste paper basket and retches violently. When he is finished, she hands him a glass of water, just as Sirius had, and he sat back on the examination table, drinking slowly.

“Sorry about that,”

“Don’t worry about it, love, just a few more questions and we’ll do some tests, alright?” he nods and takes a deep breath.

“Nothing has been done below the belt… Madame Pomfrey offered while I was at school but… I wasn’t sure _it_ would _work_ … So I said no,” His eyes were closed as he says it and he hears the sound of quill on parchment.

“Alright, now do you still get your monthly?” he shakes his head. “Sorry, love, I know these can be uncomfortable. Are you sexually active?”

“Not very… Just every now and then… My partn- _boyfriend_ doesn’t really want it that much so we don’t usually…” he trailed off and took another sip of water, just for something to do.

“That’s alright dear, this one will the last, I promise. Within the last few months, have you and your boyfriend had unprotected sex?” Remus’s eyes widening, realising where she is going with this, and almost too ashamed to admit it. _You can’t lie to her, you need to know_. He couldn’t bring himself to respond aloud and so he just nods again. “That’s quite alright, well, in that case, there’s one test I want to do, and we’ll work out where to go from there,” Remus nods, blinking back the tears that are threatening to overcome him. He would have to step across the hall to use the loo, he would have to walk passed Sirius. He couldn’t let on until he knew for sure. The healer handed him a small glass flask she had pulled from one of the many cupboards around the wall. “I just need a small urine sample,”

Walking passed Sirius was not as daunting as he had expected. Sirius had reached out and squeezed his hand as he passed, offering a reassuring smile.

Once back in the examination room, Remus set the flask down on the bench and the Healer got to work pouring a grey mixture into it. After a moment, the potion turned a soft and gentle green and he ached to read the healer’s expression. Was that sad look because she didn’t want to see a werewolf carry and infant, or was it because it was a no and she thought that would hurt more.

“Well?”

“Mr Lupin,” this struck him… Usually, after finding out, people reverted to Ms. “Mr Lupin I don’t know if you will want to hear this, but you are pregnant,” If Remus hadn’t been sitting down, he would have fallen over. He was in shock for a good few minutes before the reality sunk in.

“ _Coc y gath_ ,” was the first thing that came to mind. It’s what his father had always said when he was shocked, and the thought came back to Remus now. “Remus Lupin you utter _Drewgi_. You twpsyn _._ ” His voice was rising, as it always did when he swore in Welsh, but it was more due to the fact that he only swore in Welsh when shit went particularly pear-shaped. There was a frantic knock on the door.

“Remus? Remus are you okay,” the healer bustled to the door to tell him to wait, but as soon as Sirius saw Remus, knees drawn to chest, hands tugging at his hair, and his face streaked with the tears of silent sobs, he pushed passed her. “Remus, love? What’s wrong?”

“Cachu hwch, Cachu hwch,” Sirius didn’t know a lot of Welsh, but he recognised this. Remus wouldn’t meet Sirius’s gaze, despite Sirius trying to pull his chin up to look at him, which usually would have worked.

“Shh, hey, what’s gone wrong?” Sirius pulled Remus’s legs down and touch his forehead gently to his boyfriend’s. “My Moony, it’s okay, whatever it is, we’ll work it out,” his tone was almost a croon and this helped Remus steady his breathing, if not his tears.

“Where’s Hari?” Sirius sees through this, but responds anyway.

“Bathilda Bagshot was passing so she’s sitting with him, singing something about Dicky birds,” Remus tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. The healer, who had been standing nearby awkwardly shuffled her notes.

“Mr Lupin, we need to discuss options,” Sirius’s eyes widened.

“Is it serious,” he asked and Remus couldn’t help the response that tumbled from his mouth.

“No, _you’re_ Sirius,” Sirius cracked a smile at this and that made the knot that had formed in Remus’s stomach uncurl somewhat. _This is Sirius._ My _Sirius. No matter what, we’ll work it out._ The Healer seemed to have enjoyed the pun because her face was less concerned. Remus closed his eyes tightly and the next words came out in a rush, _“SiriusI’mpregnant,”_ Sirius blinked then stumbled backwards, the Healer waved her wand and the stool she had been sitting on, slid so that Sirius wouldn’t fall on his arse in shock. Remus felt tears well up in his eyes.

“ _Merlin,”_ Sirius’s voice was barely a whisper.

“I..” Remus’s voice broke as he tried to find the right words. “Sirius… I understand if you don’t want it…” Remus’s voice wasn’t much louder than Sirius’s eyes had been. Remus didn’t see the sudden alert flare in Sirius’s eyes, was too deafened by his own heartbeat to hear the other man get to his feet, and as such was startled when hands were placed on his cheeks.

“Remus John Lupin, I would never, ever not want to have a family with you. I was just shocked. I didn’t know that you could…” Remus was sure he had imagined this. He was sure he was imagining that Sirius was okay with this. Sirius moved his hands from his boyfriend’s face and turned to the healer. “I am sorry for just barging in like that, I am Sirius black,” he extended a hand to the healer and she took it, smiling.

“I’m Healer Noaks. Now, we need to discuss your options, considering Mr Lupin’s condition, we need to come up with a proper plan,” Sirius sat on the examination bed next to Remus. But Remus didn’t hear anything that was going on in the room. He felt oddly detached from the situation like he was a watcher, rather than the watched.

 

_Pregnant..._

_No. It's not true. It's a joke. A cruel joke, but a joke. Any minute now, Prongs will jump up, laughing..._

_No, he won't you idiot. Prongs is gone. Lily's gone._

_What would Lily say if she was here? Lily always knew what to say._

_She'd say that life only gives us what we can handle._

_Then Sirius would say that life must have messed up when it handed him this._

_No, he wouldn't. He's handling this better than you are. You knew you shouldn't have taken that chance. But you did it anyway because you couldn't control yourself._

_Stupid. Idiot werewolf. Never able to control yourself. Never good enough at restraining your urges._

_Not even good at keeping your family safe. What good are you?_

 

“Remus? Moony, come on, Love,” was the first thing that broke through the floating emptiness that had consumed him suddenly.

“I’m sorry, what?” his voice was dry.

“We need to make a plan,” Remus looked at the healer.

“Will it be like me?” the question fell from his lips before he had time to stop it. The healer’s face looked as if she were in pain.

“There’s no way to know, not for sure,”

“What do you mean?”

“Remus, we don’t need to worry about that right now,” Sirius intervened, squeezing the thin, scarred hands.

“Yes, we do, I need to know. What do you mean?”

“Well… I don’t know of any cases where a werewolf got pregnant. There are a few where the father is a werewolf, and the results differ,”

“Differ… so there’s a chance it could be normal?”

“Yes. It seems to be more common than the alternative,” Remus felt a wave of relief wash over him.

“What happens when the baby… isn’t normal?” there was a flash of pain in her face again but she seemed to push it away before responding.

“They usually don’t survive the transformation,” Remus felt his breath catch in his throat. “But like I said, Lycanthrope isn’t usually hereditary. Your case, Remus is completely new ground, and as such, you might need extensive care and monitoring during the later months, if you decide to go ahead with the pregnancy,” Remus nodded, even as Sirius’s hand tightened on his.

“What about my transformations? Will Wolfsbane potion hurt it?” she shook her head.

“I don’t believe it would. Do you take it?” Remus nods.

“Sirius’s brother makes it for me,”

“Well then, I believe that the baby should be safe during the transformations, you will have to avoid obviously dangerous activities, of course,”

“Is there any reason this pregnancy should be any different than a normal one?”

“You might need more regular check-ups, following the moons as well as the usual ones,”

“That would be for the best,” Sirius seemed flabbergasted that Remus had recovered so entirely. Despite this outward appearance of calm, a war was raging inside Remus’s chest and he could barely hear for the overwhelming volume of his heartbeat in his ears.

A few minutes later, the pair exit the room with a handful of brightly coloured pamphlets and heartbeats racing


	2. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Sirius come to terms with the decisions that they face

Bathilda had managed to get Hari to sleep, which was how he stayed even when they used the floo to get back to their flat.

“I’m going to put him in his room, I’ll be back,” Sirius whispered, smiling down at the infant. Any other day, the sight would have filled Remus with joy, but toay, he could barely feel anything other than terror.

He made his way into the kitchen, where the groceries were still sitting in their bags. With a wave of his wand, eggs arranged themselves in the refrigerator, flour decanted itself into a container, and the other bits and bobs Sirius had bought found their homes in the cupboard. With shaking hands, Remus filled the kettle and set it to boil on the stovetop. He slumps down at the table where the pamphlets were splayed, despite the fact that he didn’t remember not putting them down.

“How are you feeling?” Sirius’s quiet voice made Remus jump, and he wiped the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his jumper.

“I’m okay,” Remus tries to lie, but his voice cracks and he sniffles. Sirius pulls a chair around so that he’s facing Remus’s side.

“Moony, Rem, you don’t have to lie to me,” Remus looks at his partner with a mix of affection and pain.

“Sirius… I don’t know how I’m feeling. Mum always said the day she found out she was having me was the second happiest day of her life. Everyone always says that kind of shit. But I don’t feel it,” he could feel the heat rising in his face and he balls his hands into fists to try and keep control of his emotions. The trouble is, it’s hard to control something you don’t understand. “Sirius, I should be happy, shouldn’t I?”

“Remus, you didn’t think this would ever happen, you were sure that it wouldn’t. It’s really no surprise that you’re feeling the way you do,”

“But I don’t know what I feel! How can it be alright or unsurprising that all I feel is anger and emptiness? How can it be alright for me to carry a child into the transformations? How can it be alright for me to want to claw it out of myself? And then, if I feel that way, how is it okay for me to want to keep it?” The words tumble from his lips, volume rising with the heat in his cheeks. Sirius didn’t flinch, did not once bat an eye, there was no shame in his face.

“Remus, my love, you heard Healer Noakes, the baby will be fine through the Transformations. You always have control now, Regulus knows what he’s doing with his potions; you won’t do anything dangerous. Reg will look after Harry, like usual, and you and I will curl up as Padfoot and Moony on the lounge. It’ll be alright,” Remus’s hands had balled in his hair, but he was listening. Sirius knew he was listening.

“But what if healer Noakes is wrong? You heard her, this is all new territory. No one knows what will happen,” Sirius gently untangled Remus’s fingers from his hair, holding the scarred hands in his tightly.

“Then whatever happens, we will face it together,” This brings the tears on properly now.

“Unca Moony?” comes a small voice from the door and Remus turns to see the small boy rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Hari, how’d you get out of bed? Come on…” Sirius starts but Remus and Hari respond at the same time.

“No! Gotta see Unca moony!” Hari stamps his foot as Remus shakes his head.

“Come here, honey,” He holds his arms out and Hari is quick to scramble onto his lap, the sunshine streaming through the window and making the boys dark skin look warm and familiar. Remus buries his face In Hari’s hair as the toddler’s short arms try to wrap around him.

“Gon have a baby?” Remus starts at this.

“I don’t know, honey,”

“Don’t want?” Hari’s voice is muffled by Remus’s jumper.

“Would you like a baby?” Hari doesn’t respond for a moment, and Sirius can’t help but marvel at how beautiful his little family is.

“I can keep Moosey?” Remus lets out a wet chuckle through his tears and Hari’s hair. Despite the tumult of emotion in his chest, he still finds the fact that Hari named a hippogriff ‘moosey’ amusing.

“Yes you can keep Moosey,”

“I’d like baby,” The little boy pulls back, looking up at Remus and raising a chubby hand to his face, wiping tears off his face.

“Don’t cry unca Moony,” his brow furrowed and bottom lip jutted out when more tears fell down Remus’s face. “Unca Mooooony stoooooop,” his determined swiping of the tears made Remus laugh. A proper laugh this time.

“Okay, honey, just for you,” Remus took a deep breath and tried to steady the flow of tears. The next thing he knows, Sirius is on his knees beside them, wrapping his arms around the two people he loved most in the world.

“no! Unca Paddy can’t be sad too!” Remus hadn’t noticed the small drops of water trailing down Sirius’s pale face.

“Not sad, these are happy tears, buddy,” Sirius says, smiling up at them.

“Come on, Hari, Uncle Paddy and I have some big people things to talk about,” Remus presses a kiss to Sirius’s forehead and stands up.

“But I am a big people!” Hari whines.

After several minutes of coaxing Hari back into bed, Remus returns to the kitchen where a hot cup of tea is waiting for him.

“He settled?” Sirius asks, now sitting in his usual chair. Remus runs his hands through his hair.

“As much as usual,” he settles himself in his chair, wrapping shaking hands around his mug.

“So what do you want to do?” Sirius asks, looking at the Pamphlets. Remus didn’t look at him, his eyes trained on the ripples in his tea.

“I’m still not sure. I don’t want it to be like me, but I don’t think I could make myself part with it either,” Sirius reached over and pulled one of Remus’s hands away from the mug so that he can tangle their fingers together. “What do you want?”

“Well,” he paused, obviously thinking hard.

“I don’t want to pass on the black plague, but I would love to be a dad,” the corners of Remus’s lips twitch at the old joke.

“All those years, sitting in the dormitory with the rest of you, keeping so many secrets from the rest of the school, I thought the one thing that made me the same as the rest of you, was that I would never carry a child,” Remus talks fast, the words overflowing before he has a chance to stop them.

“Remus, you know,” Sirius’s voice was hesitant, trying to decide how to best to word what he wanted to say, “if you do decide, to go through with it, you’re no less of a man,” Remus’s hand lets go of the tea and slams on the table.

“But I am, Sirius. Men don’t carry children,” Sirius is shocked, but rallies quickly.

“Perhaps not human men. But male seahorses do,” He had remembered Regulus talking about it once when he discovered marine biology. But the look on his face tells him that this was _not_ the right angle, “And anyway, Regulus wants to have children one day, and _he’s_ still a man, isn’t he? Didn’t you say so yourself, when he was here the other day? Didn’t you say that wanting to have children, however it happened, was a normal thing?”

“Yes, Pads, for _Reg_ , maybe! But I am not Reg, I never wanted the body I was born with, _none of it._ ” His voice is rising, and Sirius fights the urge to recoil. Sirius stands fast, he knows that Remus will feel better once he gets it out. “I never wanted the periods, or the breasts, or the pregnancy. I was three and I knew. I knew that I was never meant to be a girl, not a woman, not a _mother_ , and yet here I am! Pregnant and I can’t even decide what to do,” by this point, Sirius didn’t even think Remus was raging at _him_ , just he happened to be the only witness to a boy raging at the world.

“Remus,” he started tentatively, and when he met no resistance, plunged on, “Even if you decide to go through with it, you won’t be a mother. You’ll never be called Mam. You will be Tad, or papa, or anything you like, Merlin, you could just be Remus, if you wanted to be,” These words came in such a hurry that he had to take a moment to catch his breath, along with his train of thought. “But the point is, that _this_ doesn’t change who or what you are,” Remus is staring at their joined hands, both their knuckles were white and straining, as though they were the only real things in the world, and so had to cling to each other.

“What am I, Pads?” His voice is barely more than a whisper, and Sirius smiles a small, warm smile.

“You’re Remus John Lupin, You’re a wizard, you’re a Gryffindor, you’re my _boyfriend,_ and you are the most beautiful man on the planet,”

“Scars and all?” this had been something they had shared since they were young.

“Scars and all,” Sirius reassures him, and Remus’s grip loosens slightly as he comes back to himself. “Now, you better drink some of that tea, before it goes cold,”

***

Two weeks later

The decision to keep the baby had been a hard one, and, still, every day, Remus woke up wondering if it had been the right one. But there was nothing to be done for it now, Hari knew, Regulus knew, and what really sealed it, Remus’s dad knew. Lyall had been ecstatic, of course, hugging his son and never once implying that this decision made Remus any less of a man. This cheered Remus some, he even joked afterwards that his dad was better at dealing with him being Transgender than a werewolf.

Regulus was thrilled, though still trepidatious, mainly due to the fact that ‘ _wolfsbane cannot be safe for a foetus’_ But after Remus and Sirius had told him about their discussion with healer Noaks, his nerves seemed to be put to rest.

Hari’s reaction had been the one that kept Remus sane through it all. The toddler was determined that the baby would be his sibling, and he would not hear another word about it. He kept poking Remus’s tummy, insisting that the baby had to be a girl because there were already enough boys in the house. Remus had always admired the stout little boy, his ability to pick up words he shouldn’t, and an unconditional love for the entire world. _Even if his eyes are just like hers, the time he reminds us all of her most, is when he shows how much he can love._

Of course, Hari, being two, had never learned that boys didn’t carry babies. But for some reason, that didn’t matter to Remus, it was Hari’s acceptance and excitement that had helped him make what had seemed to be an impossible choice.

But now the full moon was approaching, the moon grew fuller and fuller, and for once Remus felt much the same. His heart swelled every time Sirius fell asleep with a hand on his tummy. He still felt the usual agitation, the rage that built up in the days before the moon, but now there was something else to it, as though someone had replaced a knife with a plastic sword, no longer able to break him, despite obvious effort going into the matter.

“I don’t even think it’s the baby that’s making me feel like this,” he said to Regulus over a cup of chocolate, three days before the moon.

“No?” Regulus was waving his wand above a simmering cauldron, focusing intently as he sprinkled precisely measured ingredients into the liquid.

“No, I mean, it’s part of it, but… I think it’s more how everyone is reacting,”

“Sirius did seem very chipper when he left this morning,” Remus grinned, Sirius had been sent out to diagon alley to pick up an order for potions supplies Regulus had put in. To be honest, it was just an excuse for a bit of time for Regulus and Remus to talk.

“Chipper isn’t the word for it, the man is practically glowing… I thought _I_ was the one that is supposed to glow,” Regulus snorts, sticking his wand back through his bun, the same way Sirius does.

“He told me that your dad has come over twice in the last two weeks,”

“I know, we’re closer now than we have been in a while. It’d be fine if he would just stop bringing mum up,” Regulus’s raised eyebrow is enough to make Remus realise how that sounds. “Don’t get me wrong, I miss her too, but I just… Remembering her doesn’t make me happy, the way it makes him happy. It just makes me miss her more,” Regulus nods sympathetically.

“I would say I understand, but you’ve met my mother,” Remus laughed hollowly.

“I have,” Remus did not like to think about that very much.

“The only reason I am still speaking to her, is I don’t want mine and Sirius’s hard earned inheritance going to Narcissa and her slimeball of a husband,”

“Did you hear about their son?” Regulus raised an eyebrow as he set the cauldron to simmer, sitting across from Remus where his own mug of chocolate waited.

“No, what happened?”

“Well, for starters, he’s as pale and pointed as his father – I saw them In the leaky cauldron last month -, and then there’s the fact that he accidentally turned a muggles hair to snakes while in muggle London when the woman said something about his hair,” Regulus let out a laugh that sounds far too much like James’s for Remus to be truly amused.

“I’m sure Malfoy was pleased about that,” Regulus mutters darkly, and now it’s Remus’s turn to laugh.

“The muggle was sorted out, and Malfoy just seemed pleased that the snothead showed signs of magic so early,”

“Hair to snakes is nothing, compared to some of the stuff that Harry has done,” Remus considers this, his fingers trailing across his stomach.

“That’s true,”

“So be honest with me, how are you feeling?”

“Nauseous, tired, need to use the loo every few minutes. That’s about it. Sirius won’t let me do anything, which is annoying,” Regulus chuckles, waving his wand over his mug to warm it.

“That sounds like him. Have you decided whether to move or not?”

“We have. We’re looking at places next week,” Regulus beams at him.

“Where are you thinking?” Remus pulled a piece of parchment that had been lying on the table towards him.

“Mostly Yorkshire, I think,” Remus scanned down the list, “two in Middleham, one in Thornton-le-Dale, three in Robin Hoods Bay, one in Berwick-upon-Tweed, two in Bath, and one in Totnes,”

“That’s a bit of variety,” Remus scoffs.

“No kidding, but Sirius loves the places, so how could I say no? They’re almost all huge manor houses,”

“What about work?”

“Well I’ll be the one to look after Hari and the baby. Sirius can use the floo network to get to the Studio,”

“Well that’s easy, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be for muggles, having to live in the same place as their jobs. Not having the option  to move away because they have to be able to get to work,”

“You know, Reg, sometimes I forget you’re a pureblood. This is not one of those times,” Remus says with a laugh, which Regulus joins in on.

“What are you two giggling about?” Sirius’s voice comes from the entryway and something flutters in Remus’s chest, like a little bird taking flight.

“Just how I seem to be showing signs of the Black plague again,” Regulus replies jovially, and Sirius laughs, coming through the kitchen door and pressing a kiss to Remus’s head, messing his hair in the process.

“Hello, love,” Sirius mumbles into his boyfriend’s hair.

“Hello, Handsome. Get everything?” Then Remus noticed the lack of squawking, which would usually be emitted by a very tired Hari at this time of day. “Sirius, where’s Hari?” His voice is suddenly full of alarm.

“We caught the bus home, and he fell asleep, so I’ve put in the pen in the lounge room,” Remus felt his shoulders, which had ridden up in the last few moments, fall. Sirius pulled into the last chair at the kitchen table. “Your potions ingredients are on the bench in the hall, Reg,” Sirius added as an afterthought.

“Well, what are they doing out there, you numpty?” Reg asks, lifting his mug to his lips.

“I’ll get them,” Remus says as he stands up. Sirius makes to protest but Remus holds a hand up. “Sirius, I am only fourteen weeks along, I am perfectly capable of carrying a few paper bags of newts eyes,” Regulus tries to turn his chuckle into a cough, unsuccessfully.

The next few days went as the days leading up to the moon always did; a cup of wolfsbane every evening, Regulus took Hari the day of, and Remus went for long walks in the park with Hari to relieve some of his nervous energy. Sirius came home late on the evening of the full moon, with magical paint smeared across his cheek and hands.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Remus smiles, at him, pressing a kiss to his temple.

“It’s alright, we’ve still got time to eat tea,” Remus and Sirius eat their steak and potatoes in near silence, discussing the commission he’d gotten that day.

The rest of the evening went as it always did, Padfoot and Moony curled up on the lounge room floor in a heap of black and grey fur


	3. The Baby Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little family finds their new home, memories are dragged up for some, and an unwelcome man threatens their future. 
> 
> Warning: Dumbledore bashing. 
> 
> Someone asked if Reggie still went for the locket, and I have started to delve into the topic, as well as Reggie's feelings towards the Potters.  
> Also: "Baba" is the Bengali term for "Dad" I honestly believe that Sirius would know the language that James's family spoke, and would have taught Hari.

It only took one day for Remus to recover from the moon. The transformation itself was agony, as always, but for once, the recovery was quick, though that could possibly be due to Regulus’s superb potion making skills.  
The appointment with Healer Noaks was uneventful, the baby seemed to be developing normally, and she assured Sirius that as long as Remus didn’t lift anything he wouldn’t have before, he would be just fine. Sirius protested some, but Healer Noaks put a stop to that.  
Their trip around the country, visiting the various houses that Sirius had earmarked for them, had been entertaining if nothing else. It seemed to Remus that there was something he hated about each of them.  
The Manor houses in Middleham, although grand, was adorned with memories that clung to the walls, like portraits of inhabitants long since departed. Sirius agreed that they were far too similar to the kind of spirits that haunt the black family house.  
The other houses could not have been more different, but they all came to the same result: they decided against all of them.  
They did not feel the connection they wanted. None of the houses reached out and took hold of them, the way Lyall's cottage did.  
Then they arrived at the farm. It had three farm houses on the some 200 acres of land, there were sheep, goats, and cows. The main farm house was huge, six bedrooms, and far too much for the small family, but the second of the two houses was perfect, four bedrooms, one of which was perfect for a small library, and one perfect for a nursery. The attic was bright and welcoming, with yellow wallpaper.  
“This is it,” Remus whispers, running along the yellow and white pattern on the walls in one of the bright rooms.  
“That it is,” Sirius grins, as Hari runs back into the room.  
“Unca Moony! I saw a Ship!”  
“A ship? We're six miles from the ocean, honey,”  
“No not a ship a ship!” he insisted, pouting.  
“Oh a sheep!” Remus Said, grinning, kneeling down and scooping the toddler up into his arms.  
The real estate agent told them that if they wanted it, they would have to continue to run it as a farm, maintaining the existing contracts. Remus was thrilled, it meant there was a job for him that people could not take away from him, and that was hope enough. 

Regulus  
they told Regulus about the farm. They told him about the sheep and the goats, and the hills that would be perfect for picnics, and the 'secret cupboard' that Hari had found – which was really just a storage cupboard under the sairs that he had hidden in until a spider had fallen on his head – and he was happy for them, really, he was. But he was scared. Hari was all he had left of Lily and James, and soon he would be a long way away. He loved the boy, almost like a son, but had been so busy lately that he hadn't spent nearly enough time with the boy. And now they would be even further away. They might only be “A fireplace away” but it was still more than the two city blocks that currently separated them.  
Regulus went back to his small flat that night, and he had nightmares. Since the dark lord had falle, the mark on his arm had faded into a pale scar, but there were still the marks on his arms from where the creatures had tried to pull him under the water. He had spent months trying to recover enough to get out of the cave, and when he got out, he found that the dark lord had murdered two of the people he loved most in the world. Dumbledore hadn't told him. After the first two weeks of being trapped in the cave, Dumbledore hadn't even contacted him. When Regulus got out, and found the wreckage of the cottage at Godric's hollow – which had, of course, been the first place he'd gone – he fell to his knees screaming. Bathilda had found him there, and had summoned Dumbledore.  
That evening had not gone well. He screamed at Dumbledore, threw hexes at him, but the old man, infuriatingly, predictably, reamined calm, and simply deflected the hexes out of the window.  
Regulus relived it all that night. He watched, aware of his dream state – seeing himself as if from a distance – as the shock of the loss of his family sunk in. It was only after hours, When Regulus was on the ground sobbing, that Dumbledore mentioned “Hari survived,” Regulus had felt the rage boil up again, and had sent a fresh wave of hexes at the awful old man that James and Lily had trusted. Eventually, he had no more energy to hex the old man, and he only just managed, in a small, rasping voice, “Take me to him,”  
And Dumbledore had. He had taken Hari to the little flat where Sirius lived, but it was Remus who opened the door. Dumbledore had left almost immediately, letting Regulus collapse inside the door. The next few days were something of a blur. He told them everything that had happened, never letting go of Hari for longer than he had to.  
He explained about the Horcruxes, about how he had found out about them, how he had sent Kreacher to tell Dumbledore about them with the locket, he had sent Kreacher away with the information that meant that the dark lord could never rise again. And the information the left Peter Pettigrew rotting in Azkaban. But when he had disappeared, Walburga had called Kreacher back, had ordered him to stay in the house, so that someone would be there, should Regulus ever show up.  
And so Regulus had stayed in the cave, and to this day, this day in which he is watching himself explain it all to his brother, he still has no idea why he did not die in there. 

Remus  
Remus didn't sleep that night, he had started to believe in the future, and now it wasn't just a hope, there was a plan, evidence that he would have foundations to survive on.  
Before Hogwarts, he had helped at the farm of one of Hope's muggle friends. He and his mother would help feed the sheep, and watch as the dogs herded them into a different paddock. They were some of his best memories. He had spent a lot of time on the farm, and, during the summers, he learned how the farm ran. He was even there during the lambing one time, and had adored it. He was never much good with magical creatures, but mundane ones? They were easy. Though, in his opinion, goats thought that they were far too cleaver for their own good.  
Sirius wanted horses. He said that his uncle had bred horses, and Sirius loved to ride them. Remus had agreed, and, despite knowing that Sirius had more money than you could spend in a lifetime, he found himself wondering if they could afford it all.  
“Worrying about money again?” Sirius asked a week after they had signed the papers. Most of their things were already packed, and Remus knew that even with all the things they had in storage, the house would still be mostly empty.  
“How could you tell?”  
“Remus, you're literally counting coppers,” He nodded to the pile of knuts and sickles on the table in front of them.  
“It's all the money that's actually mine,” Remus mutters, slumping down so that his chin is rsting on the backs of his hands, which are flat on the table.  
“Well soon, most of the proceeds of the farm will be yours,”  
“Ours,” Remus mutters and sirius sits next to him, laying his head on the table, so that he is looking at the side of his boyfriend's head. After a moment, Remus sights and turns his head to face Sirius.  
“No, yours. I will still be at the studio most days, you'll be the one running the day-to-day stuff,” Remus knew this. He had volunteered, but he hadn't actually thought about it. He hadn't realised that, while it would be a job no one could fire him from, he hadn't realised that he would be the one making that money. He might, one day, be able to match Sirius's contributions pound for pound. A grin had started to spread across his face as he realised all this, and Sirius reached out and put a hand on Remus's knee. “Of course, when the bairn is getting closer, I'll take time off work, and you can boss me around and tell me that I'm not putting the sheep in the right paddocks, or something,” Remus laughs.  
“I love you, Sirius,”  
“I love you too, Remus,” Sirius pulls Remus into a hug, rubbing his back. “Lets go to bed,” 

The next day was their last in the little flat, they were having a few people over for a farewell, it was the middle of the month, so they would have time to get everything sorted before the moon.  
Remus looked at the flat. This was right. They were starting a new chapter in their lives, it wouldn't be right to start it here. But still... This is the last place that the Four of them had been together, and happy. He knew Sirius could feel it too, like they were parting from the last part of James and Lily they had left. But they knew that was stupid. Because James and Lily lived on in their son, not in some apartment in London. They weren't in the peeling green wallpaper, or the front door that stuck when it rained. They were in the small boy with warm, dark skin, and his mother's eyes.  
Regulus was holding Hari while Remus and Sirius were packing the last box from the kitchen.  
Regulus was talking to Hari in murmurs, and the little boy was looking up at him with wide eyes, the young boy uncharacteristically attentive.  
"Whatcha talking about?" Sirius asks, leaning in the doorway. Hari turns his bright eyes on his godfather.  
"Reggie is telling me about Mama and Baba," Sirius's smile faulters, but only at the corners, then it's back, wider than ever.  
"School?" Hari nods.  
"I'm telling him about the time we all organised a party for Hagrid, and we gave him a petrified Dragon egg,"  
"Oh Merlin, Did you tell him about the cake?"  
"Cake?" Hari perks up at the mention of his favourite food.  
"Well, Hari, theres something very important you need to know about your Mama," Regulus starts, bathing in the rapt expression of the toddler. "She could not cook to save her life," Hari's expression fell.  
"Then who cooked for Baba?" the question was genuine, and Regulus grins.  
"Well, usually, I did,"  
"Why?" The grin faulters and Regulus looks at Sirius. He was asking permission to tell Hari about the history he had with the Potters. They'd never told him before, mainly because Regulus had not been able to talk about James and Lily without bursting into tears. Sirius doesn't waver before nodding.  
"Because I was in love with your baba," Hari's brow furrows, obviously confused by this revelation.  
"Lie?"  
"I'm not lying," Regulus is just as confused.  
"Noo... Why lie before," The boy was almost angry.  
"I didn't, but I couldn't talk about it, it hurt me. In here," Regulus tapped his chest and Hari's face fills with understanding.  
"Reggie still hurt?" Hari's anger could flare and abate as fast as Lily's had. Regulus pulls Hari into a hug, burrying his face in the mess of black hair.  
"Not as much,"  
"Is okie dokie," Hari pets Reggie's hair as best he can, in awkward, jerky, toddler movements. "Paddy! Paddy! Reggie needs chocolate," Sirius, who had been watching the exchange with tears in his eyes, reaches into a box and brings out one of their emergency bars of chocolate. Regulus takes some, smiling. "Reggie?" Hari had been watching Reggie closely, with childish determination to make sure he ate every single bit of the chocolate.  
"Yea, honey?"  
"Love Mama too?" Reggie smiles.  
"Not the same way, but she was my best friend. Your Mama and I love your Baba more than anything,"  
"Me?" Reggie smiles, more tears falling down his cheeks.  
"Not more than you, we could never love anyone more than you," Hari grins, and nuzzles his face into Regulus's shoulder. Suddenly Remus was there, wrapping his arems around Sirius's waist, and just for a moment, everything was perfect. Then there was a knock at the door, and the moment dissolved.  
"I'll get it, it's probably Mary," Sirius says, untangling himself from Remus's arms and leaving the room. Remus sits himself on the lounge beside Regulus, and drapes an arm over him.  
"How about a cup of tea?" Remus asks quietly.  
"Yes Please," Remus waves his wand and the tea pot levitates slowly out of the kitchen with a trail of tea cups, saucers, and sweeteners. Then there is yelling from the front door.  
"You have got to be shitting me, Albus!" Sirius is shouting. Remus is so shocked, that the teapot falls to the floor, smashing and spilling tea. He waves his wand sharply, and the porcelain repairs itself, but there's no saving the tea. Remus is poised, half on the lounge, half ready to run to Sirius. "It's been more than a year! And you want to take him?" Panic surges through Remus, but Hari looks like he wants to cry - Sirius never shouts - so Remus puts a finger to his lips, and the boy shuts his mouth.  
"Reg, take Hari to..." he flounders for a moment, trying to think of somewhere safe.  
"The Potter manor," Remus nods, and Regulus, not knowing where the Floo powder is, clutches Hari to his chest, and aparates.  
"Be reasonable Sirius-" Albus had obviously heard the pop and Remus makes his way to the front door, wand in hand.  
"No, fuck you, Albus," Dumbledore seems nonplussed by the use of profanities, and looks at Sirius as if he is going to give him detention. Sirius is seething, wand pointed at the headmaster's chest.  
"It's what's best for the boy,"  
"Hari! His name is Hari! And we've met those people! They don't care about Hari! They refused to let him play with their son! She barely even cried when we told her about Lily! They don't love him, they couldn't provide for him!" Dumbledore's calm expression does nothing to soothe Sirius's rage.  
"Wait, what's going on?" Remus asks, hoping he is misunderstanding.  
"I merely want what is best for-" Dumbledore started but Sirius raised his wand to point at the crooked nose.  
"This arrogant bastard wants to give Hari to the Dursleys!" Remus sees red.  
"No," The word is closer to a growl, and the look on his face makes Dumbledore's calm demeanor falter. Sirius looked, and got a rare glimpse of the wolf in Remus's face.  
"Remus, I thought I thought you, of all people would understand,"  
"What?" Remus snarls, "You thought i would understand what? That you are trying to take a little boy away from his family, where he is safe, and loved, and protected? You thought I would understand that you would put him with people who dispise his very existance? You thought fucking wrong,"  
"Remus, you must see the merits of the plan-"  
"If it is the same fucking plan, the blood magic, then no, I do not! For all you know they could lock him in a closet and throw away the key! You have never met these people! We have, they hate him. They hate us,"  
"Give me the boy," Dumbledore's face is annoyed now. He takes a step over the threshold, this was too much for Sirius.  
"No. You have no right to him! You are not his guardian! You are not his parent! You are not his family! James and Lily wanted Sirius to look after Hari. You have no authority over his care, or his future! And I will be damned if i let you dictate what is best for a boy that you don't even know!" His voice was raised, and they could hear their neighbours opening doors, to see what the racket is about.  
"He's not here, he's somewhere safe, and he is ours," Remus growls.  
"It's for his own protection,"  
"Protection from who?" Sirius shouts. "The dark lord is dead! His Horcruxes are destroyed! He is not coming back!" Sirius takes a deep breath, the rage colouring him red from head to shoulders. "And who do you owe for that? Who was it that gave you the information that led to Voldemort being gone for good? Who was it that you used and then left to die in a cave? Regulus. You have used my family for too long, and you will never get your hands on our Hari. If you come near us again, we will do everything in our power to ensure that you lose every ounce of renown you have left. We know who you are, Albus," There is something dark implied in the last sentence, and it throws Dumbledore off. It only takes a second for him to regain his composure, then he bows deeply.  
"It was good to see you, Mr Black, Mr Lupin," and he flounces away, but theres something in his posture that shows defeat. Sirius falls to his knees as soon as their door is shut, he pulls Remus to stand in front of him, tears drenching the front of Remus's T-shirt. It takes the tall boy some time to notice that Sirius is kissing his stomach, and he feels the slightest movement inside him.  
"It's okay, Pads, everything is okay, he's gone, and we won't let him take Hari. Not now, not ever," Remus is on his knees in front of Sirius now, petting his hair, whispering gently into his ear.  
"Where is he?"  
"Regulus said he was taking him to Potter Manor, so that means that is the last place he would go,"  
"I know where he's gone," Sirius grimaces, taking Remus's hand, but there's a knock on the door.  
"Remus? Sirius? Are you guys there?" Mary's voice echoes through the hallway, and Sirius gets the door. "Hey- What's wrong?" her smile faulters.  
"Dumbledore is trying to take Hari away again," anger fills her face.  
"After everything he's done? Everything he has failed to do? He still thinks he has the right?" Remus gets to his feet.  
"We won't let him. Thank you for coming over, but we need to go to Hari,"  
"I'll come with you," Remus shakes his head.  
"No, the less people that know where Hari is right now, the better. I don't trust Dumbledore," she nods understandingly.  
"Well, if there is anything i can do to help, you know where to find me,"  
"Thanks, Mary," she kisses their cheeks and dissapears down the hall. 

Regulus and Hari are curled up in front of a small fire burning behind the grate of a large fireplace.  
It had taken fifteen minutes to help Hari calm down, and now he was curled up in one of Regulus's old jumpers. Then there was the resounthing banging of the doorknocker. Regulus scoops the small boy up, and walks to the door.  
"What colour hair was I born with?" he asks, looking through the peephole at his brothers face.  
"You were as blonde as a Malfoy, and only half as pompous," Regulus sighs with relief, pulling the door open as Remus and Sirius scramble inside.  
"What is this place?" Remus asks, as Sirius pulls the still sleeping Hari into his arms.  
"A distant relative left it to Father, and when he died, he left it to me, much to mother's disgust. It's really quite pretty when it's cleaned up," Regulus explains, leading them to the room where the fire is lit.  
They spend the rest of the evening in front of the fire, in silence, too tired to plan, too tired to think of anything other than the fact that they are together, and all safe.


End file.
